The present invention relates to a system for product creation. In particular, the present invention relates to an integrated design and manufacturing system. Using past design processes, engineering and manufacturing communicate formally using end-item-requirements drawings that define the product requirements for a particular deliverable item. In the past, engineering first considered the product requirements and developed a design that satisfied only those product requirements. The final design was documented by the end-item-requirements drawing and marked the completion of the design phase. Manufacturing next began production by translating the drawing into sequential process steps, visual aides and a work order that resulted in a deliverable item that met the product requirements shown on the end-item-requirements drawing.
Neither organization, however, was fully cognizant of both product and process requirements or their mutual interaction, which resulted in wasted time, effort and money. Thus, past design processes did not ensure the lowest product cost, time to market, or efficiency of labor. Furthermore, the past design processes were open to translation errors during the manufacturing processes. In addition, the construction techniques, although technically within specification, often produced adverse effects on the deliverable item that were not foreseen by engineering at the time of initial design. Additional time, money, and effort was therefore required to generate appropriate change orders. As a result, the past design process increased cycle time, decreased yield, and increased design and manufacturing cost.
A need has long existed in industry for an improved product creation process that overcomes the deficiencies noted above.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a process by which a product may be produced with minimum cost while reducing the time to market.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a process by which a product may be produced with highest quality while reducing the time to market.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a process by which a product may be produced with highest consistency while reducing the time to market.
One or more of the foregoing objects are met in whole or in part by the present integrated design and manufacturing system. The system first develops a library of default process steps and product design data. When a new part design is initiated, the library of default process steps is periodically checked against part requirements to ensure that the new part design is produced within the part requirements. If the library of default process steps does not produce the new part design within the part requirements, a new process step is identified and replaces the default process step. Alternatively, the new part design may be modified if a certain part parameter does not allow the part to be produced within part requirements. The system further allows the creation of operator work instructions and provides for on-line real-time feedback by operators on the work instructions.